Audi TT Timing Belt Problems

I have a 2000 Audi TT FWD. It is a california Car. I am the 2nd owner the fist was a movie actor whos mother in law lives on the east cost. The fist thing we did was up grade the clutch using a VW Jetta the original clutch is made poorly. The Main thing is the Timing Belt. If you don't change it at 60 thousand mile get ready for a new motor, like I,m installing today out of a wreck with lower miles.Good luck. Also the 2000 and 99 A6s has a throttle plate problem. It freezes up in the winter check with your dealer if if you live in the northern states. :sick:

Comments

Bought my TT 2.5 years ago when it had 60k on it. Bought a great warranty that has paid for itself more than twice. So far I have had the following done:Instrument Cluster, Starter, Blinker Switch, Glove Box Latch.Also had that recall done where they give you a new suspension, and a spoiler, which goes down in history as the best recall ever. My warranty expires in 1500 miles. I've heard I should have the timing belt done at 85. What should I expect in terms of troubles in the upcoming 10-20k miles? Thanks in advance for the help. -Charlie

If you're driving on the original timing belt count your blessings and get it done asap, I mean now! If you read the audi forums such as audiworld.com you will see what a huge chance you are taking. If your belt fails you are looking at many many thousands of dollars in repairs.

:lemon: I write this response as my TT, which has been the bane of my existence since I bought it 2 years ago, sits in a dealership service bay in more pieces than I care to know. Audi says to replace timing belt at 90,000 miles. My 2001 roadster is well under 75,000. While idling at a stop light one week ago today, the engine sputtered out and would not restart. At first, I believed it to be a repeat of the fuel sender pump problems that stranded me on a dark, snowy, rural road last November. I have no such luck. Some teeth on the timing belt broke which had the same effect as if the timing belt had snapped. Thankfully I was at idle so it only needs 8 new exhaust valves, 4 intake valves, a new timing belt, about $1,500 in labor and a few cam gears. The fact that I was idling at a top light probably saved me from needing a new engine. Thankfully, I had the foresight to purchase a third-party warranty for 4 years of 48,000 miles which will cover the belt and the valve damage.

The list of problems I have had with this car are too numerous to list here but suffice itto say that in the first 2 months I owned the car, it was only in my possession for 11 days. It had an endless stream of unrelated problems. The timing belts were the subject of a class action lawsuit that Audi settled a few years ago, but the settlement only applied to specific model years of A4 despite the fact that the same engine in used in many models of VW and Audi and similar timing belt problems seem to be noted for most of them. My dealer's Service Department acknowledges that the timing belts in the turbocharged models are subject to more strain then in cars that are not turbocharged. They also tell me that they encourage customers to have the belts replaced well in advance of the 90,000 deadline. In my case, it appears that I may end up doing well since I will be getting the expensive 90,000 mile service done under a warranty/breakdown insurance contract for far less than the cost of doing it preventatively. While that takes the sting out of it, I remain frustrated with the fact that, on average, the car seems to have some sort of serious failure every 6 months.

I believe that these cars are overly engineered and rely too heavily on expensive, fragile, computer-controlled systems with too many sensors and other points of failure. I don't think they can withstand more than a few years of regular driving and exposure to typical weather extremes. I have friends with Volkswagens who suffer similarly. I doubt that I would even buy another Audi or a Volkswagen. I had a Honda Accord that ran beautifully despite neglect and abuse for more than 132,000 miles with minimal issues. I had a Nissan Pathfinder that was practical, fun to drive, well-appointed and trouble free. Both vehicles were less expensive to buy, insure, maintain, and repair than the TT that is supposed to be a shining example of German engineering and reliability. Buy a Honda, Toyota, Nissan or anything that is more reliable and less expensive. They may not be as much fun to drive as a working TT but they are more fun to drive than the rental cars that will become a major source of transportation for you if you buy a TT.

I have a 2000 Audi TT and in general it wasn't too problem some until the Timing Belt snapped at just 49000 miles. This caused all of the engine problems that you guys have described above. I was driving at 70 mph on the freeway when it occurred. I lost the hydraulics and managed to pull the car over to the side lane. The towing charges alone were $250.00 by the time I got it to the dealer (Mirimar Audi). Audi USA and the dealership do not want to own up to the problem. After calling both parties and telling them that this is a known problem and that they should own it, they finally agreed on "20% good will". I am not happy with this and am still discussing this with them. They wanted 5000$ for the repair. The blue book value for the car is $14,000, somehow this doesn't make any sense to me. I will keep you posted on the outcome. I highly recommend folks to steer clear of the Audi TT.

Outcome:I managed to get 30% out of Audi. Costing 3000$ for the repairs in the end. Totally unimpressed by Audi management and the way they handled this case. The top guys at Audi dealership are saying not to buy German cars including Audi. Wish they would have told me that when I pulled out my checkbook. I wrote a letter to the corporate head quarters and they didnt have the courtesy to respond to my mail. I guess they didnt want to formally acknowledge that they sell a POS product that they cannot stick by. The women called me up from Audi's office and told me explicitly that she would not send a response but that she did receive my letter. I asked her if she knew that the AUDI TT has an "interference" engine and she had NO clue. I am not done with AUDI, but settled for repairs of the car just to close the dilemna in the short term.

My 2001 TT has 23,000 miles and dealer says I should replace the timing belt now because of age. Also says there is no way to tell whether it is likely to go or not so best to replace. Car otherwise has been well maintained and only problems have been typically electrical. But I do live in SoCal desert area so car is driven and garaged in very hot area. Am I taking a stupid gamble to stretch another year or three of low mileage driving or should I bite the $1700 (including water pump etc) bullet?

I just bought a 2001 Audi TT 1.8T 225HP for $6500.00 I practically stole the damn thing from my friend! My biggest concern is with the timing belt. As a previous Volkswagon owner, I've heard nothing but horror stories reguarding both VW & Audi's timing belt issues. Right now it has 93,000 miles and runs like a champion! Still fast as hell, especially when you grab the gears just right.

This raises a few questions:-Should I replace the timing belt as soon as I have the money?? -Is it okay to have someone other than an Audi dealer change it?-Also, on average what can I expect to pay?

Thanks,Poor [non-permissible content removed] 23 year old college student!

Absolutely change the belt now. It is way past the time it should be replaced, inspite of what the manufacturer recommends. When I walk into my dealers shop now, they verbally recommend that you have it taken care of at 60k miles.

I dont know what it costs when you are proactive and nip the issue in the butt. After the fact, minus the towing charges and inconvenience that it causes you expect to pay anywhere from 2k to 5k.

OMG! I am soooo sick to my stomach. I live in NY and was at a training session in Enfield CT. I got in my car to go home, it started, I backed it out, it stalled and never started again. I had no idea it was the timing belt, we thought it was the battery so we must have cranked the engine dozens of times. Needless to say, my car had to be towed to an Audi dealer in MA and that is where it is now. The tech told me it most likely is the belt and that the head will probably need to be replaced but he had to spend more time with it to know the extent of the damage. If the head is blown it will most likely cost $5K to fix. So, I'll wait to hear what the outcome will be for my car 2 states away. I turned 90K on that drive and the maint schedule says to change at 105K. I wish I had read this post miles ago..............I love my car, but I decided long ago I will never buy another Audi because of other strange issues that needed to be repaired while the car was still young - I owned it for 3 weeks and the turbo hose fell off at 75 mph, at 51K - 1K miles after the warranty expired and 2 weeks after I brought it in for service a pump and a bunch of vacuum hoses needed to be fixed to the tune of $998. The cruise control no longer works, every now and then the car hesitates while shifting, my side reflector is always falling off, the gas gauge is whacky...it's crazy... Good luck all... say a prayer for me...

if you went 132k on any Honda without changing the timing belt, you were living on borrowed time for 82,000 miles, it's well known that those belts go too, and that 50k is a prudent time to change, just like 60k is good on the 1.8t Audi/VW and 80k is a good time for the 2.8 Audi/VW V6. Even on Mercedes-Benz, with robust timing chains and no specified maint. interval, going over 100k without changing is Russian roulette.

So, it cost $6139.58 to rebuild my engine, and the car still intermittently hesitates! All I can say is that I am disgusted. This thing better run forever now.

My maintenance book clearly states that the belt should be replaced at 105K miles. I don't care what anyone says or what anyone knows, if that is not accurate Audi needs to inform its customers or take responsibility. Why the hell does the book say 105K if the thing breaks at 40, 60 or 90????

It's funny how the Audi rep said that some people decide not to fix the car, and he keeps them and fixes them himself and has a new car! I bet he was hoping I would leave my $42K car up there too. :confuse:

It's a joke. :mad: Never again. I drove my 1989 Jeep Wrangler into the ground for almost 14 years. I never changed a timing chain or belt or hardly anything else for that matter. I abused that truck. I still have the thing sitting on my property. I could have rebuilt the entire truck for less than 6K and driven it another 14 years! To think I put it to pasture in 2002 to get this TT.

And now there is something wrong with the exhaust! My car sounds like some punks supped up Honda. It's wheezing to... I can't. The thing is going in the garage until spring and I'll worry about it then.

I periodically check the Audi TT blogs/forums regarding this timing belt issue. I have a 2000 Audi TT coupe that I purchased in 2003 with 32,000 miles on it. My timing belt broke in June 2006 on my drive from Los Angeles to Houston, TX at 83,000 miles. All of the car's maintenance since I purchased it used in 2003 was performed by the Audi Downtown Los Angeles dealership, even the 60K-mile maintenance where I instructed them to do EVERYTHING required plus anything they felt **should** be done. I even had a check-up at the dealership one month before I moved from Los Angeles to Houston (~82,000 miles).

In short, I was told the following by Audi USA and the Downtown L.A. dealership - after the fact:1) All TT timing belts should be replaced every 3 years or 60K miles. The US Owners manual is misprinted and says 105K miles. The Australian owners manual says 100K km. It is a mis-print in the US Owners manual - they didn't convert from metric to US measurements, which would be about 66K miles.2) The timing belt is composed of rubber - it degrades. Therefore, even if the car is low-mileage, after 3 years, the timing belt should be replaced because moisture, heat stress etc. cause wear and tear and it becomes brittle.3) As stated above, the engine is an interference engine. It will be destroyed if the timing belt breaks - not a great design but I guess it keeps things fairly compact. So the risk by not changing one's timing belt is an engine that is unusable and costs approx $6500 to repair.

In my case, Audi U.S. paid 50% of the replacement cost for the new engine PARTS, and the repair work was done by the dealership in Houston (Momentum Audi). In my opinion, Audi should have paid all of the labor, and possibly 100% of the parts as well. I had the documentation that the L.A. dealership had done all of my maintenance since I purchased the car.

Now my 2000 TT has a new engine, new brakes, new tires and runs basically good as new - with the exception of a little electrical glitch with my turn signals (at 94,000 miles). I don't see a reason to replace it now...aside from the timing belt, it has been a great car.

After the timing belt was replaced, I asked the mechanic who did the work what the next probable failure would be based on his experience with TTs. He said the manual transmission is the best one Audi makes. So for those of you with tiptronics or automatics, just beware one Audi mechanic doesn't feel those are very reliable over the long term. I have a manual trans, so it provides me some comfort.

I heard rumors of a class action lawsuit back in '06 because of the timing belt. This is quite worthy, as this timing belt problem/owners manual misprint is so prevalent - and Audi only acknowledges it privately on a case-by-case basis.

Frankly, I wouldn't trust any of the timing belts since 2000-2002 without verification from Audi that a) they changed the composition of the rubber timing belt or b) changed the owners manual to correct the 105K mile replacement mis-representation.

I wish I had my point of contact with Audi USA still. I'd post his contact information all over the internet.

I purchased my '02 Audi TT in 2005 and it had 12,000 miles on it and all of the maintenance was kept up religiously. I have continued to take it in for its regular service. I go to take it in for service at 65k miles and they want to change the timing belt. They also want to change some other things like the alternater "while they are in there". After reading this forum, I am convinced that I need to change the belt but what about the other things they want to do to the tune of ~$1500? Should I let them do everything or wait untill the other parts break?

Also, I was very happy to get a letter from Audi TT Instrument Settlement Administrator to fix the problems with my instrument panel display. It has been buggy for a while, I will have that fixed as well.

Prolly a good idea. So it costs $700 to fix the instrument panel. Im gonna get it fixed and tell them it broke last summer and turn it in by June 16th to see if they will reimburse me. My car was officially too old in Nov '07. Go figure...Wish me luck!!

I never recieved a letter about the extention of warranty, any ways I lost the timing belt last night. My mechanic told me about the class action law suit. 2001 model was extended to 120000 miles , but the way that I understand is it was revised from 105000 to 120000 and mailed out sept. 11th of 2008, and the dead line was sept.30th of 2008 to file for damages.please acknowledge if you are in the same situation.If you have any info that will help me ,please post it . I have 110,000 miles on it.

Today I needed my key fobs re charged, I was told my timing belt has hairline cracks. They are replacing it now. I have learned that I should have received a notice about a year ago to have it checked, as the result of a class action suit.I am certain that had I been alerted, I would have been covered now rather than bearing the expense.Anyone have any suggestions how to pursue Audi for failing to notify me properly? I have all of 49,000 miles thus far.

Hi. Sorry for your troubles but Audi will only cover damages caused by a failed timing belt. The replacement of the belt is an owner responsibility. It is action like these from Audi that have soured my relationship with this car manufacturer. The worse part, and I hope I am not ruining your day, but this belt was an issue on this same motor on a previous model before the TT was released. And yet, they did nothing to redesign or upgrade the material of the belt. Way to stick it to the customer. My 2001 Roadster has this belt. I had it checked for free as part of the lawsuit and it was judged OK. I will check it every year and replace when necessary. It aint cheap to own a TT. Good luck.

Having the timing belt changed next week @ 73K miles. (2001 TT Quattro) I received notification of the class action, can't remember when, but at that point in time the belt, which was checked for free, part of the "suit" was fine. When I went in for the 60K service they said it was starting to crack and recomended it be changed as soon as possible but by at least 75K miles....yes now I get to pay the $1400. for a new one. I guess I should have had them install a new one then...that is if they would have done it being that it was ok then....somehow I doubt they would have. :confuse:

I don't know much about cars but the timing belt went on my TT 1 week after I bought it 02 model with 60k miles. How can Audi sell a car with such a poor quality timing belt. I'm waiting to hear from the garage to see how bad the damage is but I'm sick as a dog. Will Audi accept any responsibility for the damage? On a normal cheap car you would expect the timing belt to last at least 100K?

I have been following the timing belt problem for awhile. A friend had his timing belt go& the repair cost was 10,000.00 (which included the pistons).

I have a 2005 TT and am on the dealership to get accurate condition reports on it. They have told me that it is not the milage but the age of the belt that matters. They have recommended replacing it at the 6 year mark.

I think there was a class action suit in the States regarding the use of milage as an indicator of when the timing belt was to be replaced.

To those worried about the timing belt. I replaced mine after 9 years and 55,000 miles and it was absolutely fine. It was a waste of money. My mechanic informed, after changing it, that the primary reason for timing problems is lack of changing the oil at least 3 times a year. Forget the once a year Audi recommended interval. This has proven faulty. Use semi synthetic or full synthetic for best performance. Look into the oil filler cap with a flash light and if the engine is clean, you have no worries until 100K miles. the Audi dealerships are not know for the best place to take care of your car. Find a competent independent mechanic. No only are the cheaper but have more interest in keeping your business than Audi employed mechanics. Good luck.